Love and Death
by Bookkbaby
Summary: YAOI Naruto is badly hurt by some men and unleashes Kyuubi on Konoha for a short time before regaining control, but some in Konoha call for his death. Can he convince the people not to kill him and make Sasuke fall in love with him? Rated for violence and
1. Chapter 1

Okay- I don't know WHY I'm posting yet ANOTHER on-going fic, but since I already have about 1/2 of it written I might as well.  
Disclaimer: I don't own. You don't sue.

The rain was pouring down in a horrible storm. The citizens of Konoha were trying to get under shelter, many gratefully taking the space offered them in the awnings of stores, or inside stores and shops.

All except for one.

That one was a seemingly cheerful, almost-teenage boy with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was grinning hugely at the moment, running towards his home- a small apartment- and pretending that the whispers behind his back were going unheard.

"Demon child." one woman whispered vehemently to her friend. "We're lucky there is no more room under here- he might ask to share the space!"

The woman's friend shuddered. "I wouldn't let my child near him if my life depended on it. That boy is evil."

"Hardly a boy. He's a demon, and one day he'll kill everyone. We should kill him now or kick him out to protect ourselves."

The boy was, of course, Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto closed the door to him home behind himself, letting his mask drop. It wasn't a physical mask, but a mental mask. His smile dropped to an almost expressionless expression, a bit of lingering sadness marking his handsome features. He shoved the thoughts of what the women had been saying aside, settling on a different annoyance.

'Damn it- Kakashi-sensei didn't have to keep us out there until it started raining!' Naruto thought. He removed his wet clothes, changing into something dry after showering. He wrung out the wet stuff and hung it on lines inside the small area that was his living space. He checked his equitment- making sure he had all of his kunai, shuriken, etc.

He frowned. One kunai was missing.

'It must have fallen out while I was running. I can't let it rust out in this rain.' He grabbed a coat- coated with wax so it was waterproof- and left, locking the door behind him.

Naruto was cold and a little wet where he had splashed in puddles. He hadn't seen his missing kunai while in the village, so he was searching the fields now. He looked up at the sky and -still walking- grumbled about how bad the weather was.

Something sharp hit his foot. He hissed, but looked down. There was his kunai. He picked it up cheerfully, wiping it off on the shirt he was wearing underneath the waterproof coat.  
Something made a hissing sound as it sped past his ear.

'What!' Naruto thought, straightening up and looking around, prepared to defend himself with the single kunai he had.

"Who's there?" he demanded. Three ninja jumped down from the few trees scattered about the field. They wore the Konoha symbol, so Naruto dropped the kunai slightly. He studied them. The leader- or the guy in front, however you wanted to say it- was a big guy, and Naruto didn't mean tall. The one on the right had longish hair, the color of dead wheat, and a scar from his right ear and up through his left eye, somehow missing his right eye. The last was a small guy- a bit taller than Naruto, with a shaved head and lithe frame.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Demon boy. Demon child. We were sent to make you leave." the leader said. Naruto covered the mass of pain and hurt that were his emotions with anger.

"How did you know that? And who wants me out of the village!" he demanded. All three chuckled, but again, only the leader spoke.

"Everyone wants you out of the village. Nobody can trust the Leaf nins with a demon child on his way to becoming a true shinobi. We have to make you leave, then hunt down the stupid missing-nin and kill him." Naruto swallowed, but raised his kunai. Something didn't feel right about this...

'Well, besides the fact that thse guys are going to kill me!' Naruto thought.  
"I'm staying. I will become Hokage one day, and there's nothing you can do. I'll make you all recognize me!"

Suddenly, the one to the right of the leader disappeared. Naruto looked for the man, and just caught sight of a bit of hair as the man grabbed his arms, pinning them behind his back. Naruto dropped the kunai from surprise, and the ninja caught it deftly with his middle and index finger.

"Boss, here's your kunai back." The man tossed it casually to his boss, who caught it neatly.

'Wait... it wasn't my kunai? They probably stole mine, just to lure me out here!' Naruto swallowed, but didn't lose his defiant look. He was getting nervous and scared, but he didn't show it.

"I'm going to become Hokage some day! Release me, and I'll go easy on you!" he said, trying to wriggle away from his captor.

"We'll let you go- after we've had our fun." Suddenly, then men were all smiles. Naruto began to feel the icy grip of terror close over his heart. The man behind him pulled down Naruto's hood. Naruto realized it wasn't raining.

'Well, at least I won't get wet.' he thought. The small, rational, area of his mind realized that he was going into hysterics from panic.

All thought processes stopped at the man behind him licked his neck slowly and then breathed on it. Animal instincts took over as panic began to invade the rational area of his mind as well. He began struggling in earnest- until the leader slapped him with the kunai still in hand. It nearly took out one of Naruto's eyes, but he was lucky. Nothing vital damaged, but he was bleeding a lot.

"Hold still. It's harder to have fun this way." The leader began using the kunai to slice off Naruto's clothes, not caring that he was cutting into flesh as well.

'Shit...! This can't be happening!' Naruto thought, wincing as slashes appeared on his skin. This wasn't even the bad part. Naruto knew what was coming... and was terrified. Well, petrified was more like it.

Suddenly, he was flying through the air. He hit the ground hard, feeling his back bruise and gasping for air- the wind had been knocked out of him.

A weight settled on top of his chest. His eyes- involuntarily- glanced down.

The leader was sitting on top of him- without pants. Naruto eyese opened wide. He knew what the leader had planned, and he knew that he was powerless. He was struggling, but the man didn't seem to notice.

"Open your mouth." he commanded. Naruto shook his head, now even more desperate to get away. For his efforts, he recieved a hard punch to his face. Naruto hissed, but kept his teeth clenched.

"Open your mouth, brat." Naruto shook his head. He recieved another punch. The leader brought his hand to Naruto's nose and held it closed. Naruto struggled to hold his breath, but after a few minutes, he had to open his mouth and gasp for air.

The leader noticed his open mouth immediately, and took the oppertunity to cram a very unsavory something in there.

"Ahhh... that's nice..." he said. Naruto tried to bite down, but the man's hands were on his face and holding his mouth open. He couldn't move his jaw.

"Gerrof!" he tried to say. 'Get off!' was what he meant, but he couldn't talk properly. "Gerrof!"

"Soon... soon..." the leader said, starting to move.  
For the first time in years, a tear slipped down Naruto's cheek.

'This... this isn't happening...' he thought. 'No...' He knew- intellectually- what was going on, but his emotions couldn't handle it.

Deep inside his mind, Kyuubi began to stir.

I'm just kinda making this up as I go along ( and I'm only 15) so it won't be a work of art. I have no clue how long this will be, but I have 19 pages of notes on it so it will be long.  
Please (if you have time) let me know how I did! 


	2. Chapter 2

It's just the author. I remembered something I forgot in the first chappie- the disclaimer! I obviously don't own 'em, or I would have read all the manga already and would incorporate this into the REAL story!

Sakura walked through her apartment, noting that the rain had stopped.

'I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow- Kakashi-sensei said that practice wouldn't be able to be held if it was all muddy...' Sakura's eyes widened.

'Practice! Where do we meet and when? Kakashi-sensei didn't tell us!' She ran and grabbed a light jacket.

"Mom! I have to visit Kakashi-sensei and find out what time tomorrow's practice is. I'll be back after I tell Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun."

"Go ahead dear, but be careful around that Naruto boy." Sakura rolled her eyes. She had no clue what her mother had against Naruto, other than the fact that he was annoying, loud, and obnoxious... Nevermind, question answered.

"Bye." Sakura said, leaving.

Five minutes later, she was in front of Kakashi-sensei's home. She knocked. She waited a minute, then knocked again. Kakashi-sensei answered on the sixth knock.

"Hello? Oh, Sakura." he said. She smiled politely while Inner Sakura raged at him for taking so long.

'Grr... What was he DOING that took him so LONG to ANSWER!' Inner Sakura thought.

"Sensei, I was wondering when and where we would be having practice tomorrow." Kakashi smiled at her.

"Oh, is that all? On the bridge, at seven in the morning. We had to cut practice short today, so we'll be kept later than usual. Tell them to pack lunch and a snack." Kakashi warned. Sakura nodded, then bowed a bit.

"Thank you sensei." Kakashi nodded and closed the door.  
Sakura turned away and started heading over to Sasuke's house.

'Yeah! I get to see Sasuke-kun!' She smiled and practically skipped the whole way there. It didn't take her long to tell Sasuke-kun- and all he did was say 'hn' and nod- and soon she was waiting outside Naruto's apartment.

Sakura knocked again. This had to be the eigth time!

"Naruto!" she called again. She frowned. He must not be home.

'I'll check the Ramen stand...' she thought. 'Then Iruka-sensei's place. Where else could he be? Maybe training...' Listing the possible places in her head, Sakura started walking toward's the Ramen stand.

A half hour later, and Sakura was officially frustrated and worried. Naruto wasn't anywhere! No one had seen him.

'I should tell someone- maybe Sasuke-kun or Iruka-sensei or Kakashi-sensei could help me look.' Sakura wasn't quite sure why she wanted to look for the blond moron, but something about him missing didn't seem right to her.

Soon, she found herself back at Sasuke's home. She was unsure of why she visited here first, but she didn't know what to do.

She knocked on the door. Sasuke was there in a minute.

"What is it?" he asked her. He noted the worried look on her face.

"I- I can't find Naruto. No one has seen him, and this doesn't seem right to me." Sasuke grew worried instantly, but he didn't show it.

"The baka's probably at the Ramen stand, or training." Sakura shook her head.

"I checked about five minutes ago. There's no way he's in the village, and I checked the woods. He's gone."

'Gone? He- he didn't leave. He couldn't have.' Sasuke assured himself.

"We must inform Kakashi-sensei. He can help us search." Sakura nodded.

"If it's really important- he might just be goofing off, so I didn't want to bring Kakashi-sensei into-"

"It is that important." Sasuke said, cutting her off. She shut up.

"Let's go."

Naruto writhed in pain. They had used him in only one place- they had only violated his mouth- and were now kicking him. Groin, kidneys, stomach, anywhere- it didn't matter to them. He had coughed up bile and blood, but they just laughed.

"I think it's time to finish up, Boss." the small bald guy said. The leader nodded. Naruto's eyes widened.

There was one place they had not defiled- one place left untouched. He tried to pick himself up frantically, but his arms and legs failed him- he could not get up. He heard the shuffle of feet as the leader moved closer to him.

'Damnit... move!' he thought to himself. 'Move it! MOVE!' His body didn't obey, and the leader was there!

"This will be fun..." the leader murmured, flipping Naruto onto his back and getting in between the boys legs. Naruto tried to kick him, but his legs were too weak to do any damage.

'Boy... let me out! I can get rid of these men...' Kyuubi whispered to Naruto.

'How? I don't know how!' Naruto thought back, freaking out and all but paralyzed from fear.

'Concentrate on my seal! Break it! Burn it! Use your Chakra! Come on boy, let me out!' Naruto tried to concentrate, but he was too shocked and unable to focus any Chakra.

The man slammed into Naruto. He screamed, feeling tears come to his eyes. The tears fell.  
As the man continued, Naruto retreated into his mind- into the room containing the cage that contained Kyuubi.

'Let me out... boy.' Kyuubi said, eyes glaring down at Naruto.

'H-How? I- I can't focus my C-Chakra...' Naruto said, clutching his head and staring at the ground.

'Do it! You CAN do it! Let me out of here!' Kyuubi commanded. He reached out with his Chakra and lifted Naruto to the cage doors- to the seal- none too gentley. Naruto let out an 'oof' and then a scream of pain as his consciousness started to drift back to his physical body.

'Rip it off the doors!' Kyuubi urged. He would very likely never get another chance to take over this body and transform back to his real self.

Naruto let out another scream as his 'mind body' started to disappear. The last thing to go was a disembodied hand, clutching the top of the seal. As it disappeared, it dragged down, until the seal ripped completely.

The doors opened slowly, as the form of the huge nine-tailed fox strode out from his prison.

Naruto gasped and opened his eyes. He must have blacked out from the pain. He gasped for air, feeling the pain in his lungs all over again.

'Sleep.' Kyuubi's voice told him. 'Sleep.' Naruto heard that voice from inside his mind. He didn't resist, not even being fully there yet. He blacked out again, not feeling teh Chakra spew from his body- from the seal- and enclosing him in a body.  
The body of Kyuubi.

The two men watched their leader please himself in the body of a small boy. The boy was obviously unconscious, but that didn't seem to faze their leader.

'Sick... but it has to be done.' The man with hair of dead wheat thought.

'It would have been kinder to just torture him. But he doesn't deserve kindness.' the man with the scars thought.

Suddenly, the kid's eyes opened and he gasped. Their leader scrabbled off the kid, seeming to notice the blood-red eyes the kid suddenly had, instead of blue eyes. The kid gasped again, then seemed to pass out again. All three breathed a sigh of relief, but it didn't last long. They felt the evil Chakra before they noticed the boy changing.

In a few minutes, where the boy had lain was a form they recognized. They had fought against him, in fact.

"Kyuubi." all three whispered. They stumbked back, almost falling, then turned and ran for their lives.

The creature growled and charged, slicing with his claws in vital spots- granting them each quick deaths.

'This is my thank you.' he thought to the corpses. 'Thanks for forcing the kid to let me out.' Almost chuckling to himself, he turned his eyes on the nearby village.

'Konoha will pay for sealing me inside this bot.' He smiled (as much as a fox could smile) his eyes full of malice.

'They will pay dearly.'

Again, if you have a spare moment, please review! 


	3. Chapter 3

I just wanted to put something here. Just an Author's Note- thanks for sticking with this for so long! Love ya all!

Sasuke waited in the corner of the building, waiting for Sakura to return.

'Where are you? Does anyone know where he is?' Sasuke thought to himself. Worry clenched his heart. Although he would never admit it to anyone but himself, he didn't hate Naruto. He put up a good front, faked everyone out, but you could sometimes catch Sasuke looking at Naruto with a certain softness, a certain emotion. Sasuke may not admit it to anyone else, but he loved Naruto. He- the most popular and sought-after boy in Konoha- had managed to fall in love with a misfit that no one wanted. No one but him.

Now Naruto was missing.

Sakura ran up to him.

"No one has seen him. I've asked, but they won't tell me anything. they all seem to think it's a good thing if he's missing."

A loud growl interrupted their conversation. The ground started shaking.

"Look out! Kyuubi is back! Run!" A nin they had seen at the watch tower came running past them. Screams erupted around them, and everyone started running away from the direction the nin had come from.

'Kyuubi!' they both thought. 'Nine-Tails?'

The nin ran over to them.

"Move it you two! Hide somewhere- this is nothing you can take on." He shoved them towards the direction everyone was running. "He's already killed the others at the tower!"

"Come on!" Sasuke told Sakura, yanking her along by the arm. She ran alongside him.

"What's going on?" People asked as they passed.

"Kyuubi is back!" Sasuke said. If they held anything, they dropped it and started running.

"Grrrrrrrr." A low growl sounded behind them. Sasuke looked back, but looked forward again almost instantly.

He saw that Kyuubi- it must be Kyuubi, he had nine tails- was gaining on them, and had slaughtered some that had lagged behind or tried to hide. Their blood soaked his teeth and claws.

Sakura tripped. Sasuke went down with her, as he was grabbing her by the arm.

"Damnit!" he swore out loud. Others were passing them- caring enough not to run them over, but not helping them up. Not that it really mattered. they were back on their feet in ten seconds, but that ten seconds was all Kyuubi needed to catch up.

It loomed over them, opening its maw and ready to bite down. Sasuke drew a kunai and stepped in front of Sakura. She was a woman- it was courtesy and proper to protect her. She was also a part of his team- he felt friendly towards her. He stepped in front of her without a second's hesitation.

"Sas-" Sakura started, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

"Go. You don't have much time." He told her. "Go!" Sakura draw back as if slapped, but nodded and ran, tears running down her face.

Sasuke's eyes never left Kyuubi. Odd- it wasn't attacking. The two stared into each other's eyes, and for a second, Sasuke was sure that he saw a flicker of blue beneath the red.

'What?' he asked himself, stepping back. Kyuubi growled again and sprang.

Naruto opened his eyes. He was warm- but it was dark... so dark...

'Boy- you awake?' Kyuubi asked. 'Sleep.' Naruto's eyes started to close, but he shook it off.

'Where am I?' he asked.

'My body. Sleep.'

'Your body! What happened?' Naruto asked, then images flew back into his mind. Images of what had happened to him. He lifted his hands up to his head.

'No...' he thought, feeling like he was going to break down here. He was dirty- unclean! He had been defiled and hurt in teh worst way...

'Yes, that is what happened. They're dead now.' Naruto looked around. All he saw was black, and then the words sunk in.

'Dead? Did you kill them?'

'Are you unhappy? They raped you and would have killed you. I took your revenge on them, now I'm taking my revenge on Konoha.'

'What?' Naruto asked, hands leaving his head.

Suddenly, sounds, pictures, and scents assalted him. He heard terrified screams, saw the bloody corpses of people, and smelled the blood in the air.

'They fear me! Pathetic creatures they are, they're afraid! They run- Oh, see how they run! I love the chase...' Kyuubi thought. Naruto thought he was going to be sick- equal parts from Kyuubi's wanton destruction, and from what had just happened to him.

He shoved it aside to deal with later. Out of teh corner of his eyes, something caught his attention.

'What?' Naruto thought, looking through Kyuubi's eyes. It was Sasuke and Sakura!

'Don't you dare hurt them!' Naruto told him. He heard Kyuubi's mocking laughter in his ears.

'And why not?'

'I'll kill you! I'll die if I have to, but leave them ALONE!' Naruto said.

'Why? Do they mean something to you?'

'Yes! Get away from Konoha!'

'The town that treated you so badly as a child- the town that would gladly see you dead and then dance over your grave- you want to protect? What are these dumb little beings before to you?'

'My friends. I'd die to protect Konoha- they'll have to recognize me then. That's what the Hokage would do.'

'Damnit!' Naruto jumped from the vehemence in Kyuubi's voice.

'What is it?'

'We got company.' Kyuubi looked around, and Naruto- helpless to do much else- looked as well.

Jonins surrounded them, each preparing a jutsu or ready to throw kunai or shuriken.

Kyuubi growled and leapt, far over Sasuke's head. Assuming he was going to go after the other villagers, the jonins threw their weapons or released their techniques. Kyuubi didn't quite manage to dodge all, and he hissed as he felt them dig into his flesh. He leapt again, out of Konoha.

Sasuke froze, scared out of his mind. Kyuubi had leapt over him... but now he was gone. Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. The Jonins has scared him off.

"Yo! Sasuke! You okay?" Kakashi asked, jumping down. He was slightly concerned- but you could only tell that if you knew him. He looked nonchalant, so it was hard to tell. Sasuke fixed him with a hard look.

"I thought Kyuubi was dead. How is he still alive, and why are you not more worried about this?" Sasuke asked. Kakashi stopped pretending with the nonchalant look and looked at Sasuke with a strange emotion in his eyes.

"I am worried. I know that it would take ten of me to be able to face him. Not clones, either. His reemergence could mean death for us all." Sasuke stepped back.

He had never expected to see fear in his teacher's eyes.

Cool! Kakashi-sensei's actually scared for his student! Hee hee... witness my author powers... able to mess with the characters at will.  
Please review! Thanks to those who have (sorry I haven't said that yet!) 


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks again, those who reviewed!

Kyuubi ran. He had only a little while to get somewhere safe to nurse his wounds.

'The brat's body can't take this much longer. If this is pushed for too long, he dies. If he dies, I die.' Kyuubi thought. He stopped at a cave with a small spring. He sniffed. Freshwater. No animals. He let the transformation come undone, fell asleep, and soon there was just Naruto, lying naked outside of the cave. He crawled slowly inside. Naruto sat up by the edge of the pool and peered in.

His reflection stared back at him.

Suddenly, he hit the surface, causing ripples to form and break the image cast on the water. He crawled into the water, picking the sand up from the bottom and scrubbing himself with it, hoping- illogically- that it would take some of the nastiness and feeling of violation from him. He scrubbed his skin red and raw, silent tears making their way down his face. He angrily wiped them off. Uzumaki Naruto was not a crybaby!

He got out of the pool and curled into a corner, shivering. He tried to think of warm memories- maybe it would help.

He groaned and sniffled. All of his memories- his happy ones- centered around someone he couldn't see again. He wanted to, but he wasn't good enough. He had been defiled- nothing he did could redeem himself now. He had attacked and killed so many people- ordinary villagers that didn't deserve it.

Everytime he closed his eyes, he saw his helplessness as those men raped him, and then the shock he felt when he awoke to find Konoha half-destroyed by Kyuubi- the demon he was supposed to keep sealed. The demon he had let free of his own free will.

He would close his eyes, and then the image of the one person he couldn't see flashed before his eyes. The dark hair, the darker eyes, the icey exterior...

'No.' Naruto told himself. 'Sasuke can have anyone he wants. And he doesn't want a defiled little demon brat- dead last.'

He shut his eyes tighter and tried to sleep.

The images still haunted his mind.

The Hokage had called a meeting of the Jonin. Kakashi was there, as well as Gai. Iruka- even though he was a Chunnin- had been allowed to come. No Genins or lower Chunnins were allowed.

"This is a matter of utmost secrecy and danger." the 3rd Hokage stated, puffing on his pipe. "Kyuubi resurfaced. There are eleven dead and thirteen wounded. We have to decide this- as Jonins, as a community- what we should do. For anyone who does not know- and this does not leave this room- Kyuubi was sealed inside a baby boy, not killed. That boy was named Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto has been missing for hours, and Kyuubi has shown up. We need to know what to do about Kyuubi and Naruto." It was silent for a moment, but an old Jonin spoke.

"Kill him." Kakashi glared at the man with his single eye.

"Naruto is a child! He's only just past ten, and you want to kill him?"

"What do you suggest, Kakashi?" the Hokage asked. Kakashi turned and faced the 3rd Hokage.

"I think we should try to reseal Kyuubi."

"I agree with Kakashi." Iruka said. "Naruto is just a child!"

"He killed eleven people today! If Kyuubi broke free once, he can do it again." A jonin said. "We should kill him."

"We get so few jobs as well. No one trusts the Leaf nins with that monster hiding in our ranks!"

"He'll kill us all! We should kill him to protect our families!"

"He's a boy! An orphan! And you'd kill him for being what he is?" Gai asked, joining Kakashi & Iruka's side.

"He's a monster!" the old Jonin that had first suggested he be killed replied.

Unbeknownst to them, a figure hid just outside of the door, listening.

The Hokage raised his hand.

"I understand both of your points of view. We also must take into account what is best for Konoha. A young boys life hangs on our decision, so we must choose carefully. He who contains Kyuubi inside his body is not to be treated lightly- we should choose what is best for Naruto, and for Konoha, and hope that we can save both." The Hokage looked everyone present in the eye. "How many still call for his death?" Slowly but surely, all but three in the crowd raised their hands. The Hokage closed his eyes and bowed his head.

"How many call for Kyuubi being resealed"  
Kakashi, Iruka, and Gai raised their hands. Slowly, the Hokage looked over the three who had their arms raised.

"Kakashi, Iruka, Gai. You three are some of the best shinobi in the village. But you three cannot turn the vote for Naruto. Not even I could. I'm sorry, Kakashi. Iruka, and Gai, I must apologize to you too. Even though I do not wish it, we must do what is best for Konoha. Most of us here believe that he is a danger to us, and that the Leaf will cease to exist if he is brought back." The Hokage sighed slowly, unwilling to give his order, but he knew it must be done.

"The boy is a danger to Konoha. As Hokage, I must order him killed. Jonin and ANBU will be sent out tomorrow morning, at seven."

The figure listening outside the door clenched his hands. He carefully controlled himself, making sure to be silent as he walked away. He masked his departure in every way possible. Since he was the best in his class, this was only slightly difficult for him.

'They're going to kill Naruto because he holds Kyuubi. It is not his fault for containing it, but they will kill him for it all the same.' The figure looked up at his house, not even realizing that he had walked all the way there.

'I have to leave now, and I may be able to catch up with Naruto before the search parties do.' Uchiha Sasuke thought, entering his house and getting a pack ready. He would track Naruto, and hopefully get him away before he was found and killed by the Jonin.

Sakura paced back and forth in her room. She was worried about Naruto- they hadn't yet found him.

She thought of Kyuubi and shuddered. What if Naruto had died under the beats powerful jaws? She shivered again. She had almost died. Had it not been for Sasuke and all those Jonin...

She heard a tap-tap. She looked around, trying to locate the source. The tap-tap came again.

Her eyes landed on the window.

"Sasuke-kun!" she said, walking over and unlatching the window. "What's going on? Have they found Naruto?" Sasuke stepped in, looking at the ground. She noticed that he had a very full pack on his shoulders.

"I'm going after him. Tell Kakashi-sensei that I won't be at practice tomorrow."

"After Naruto? Why? Has he left the village? What's going on?" Sasuke lifted his eyes to hers, and spoke urgently.

"I don't have much time. They're sending Jonin after him, maybe even ANBU. I have to find him before they do." Sakura felt puzzled, and her face showed it.

"Why? ANBU and Jonin? He's just been missing- has he done something wrong, something that could put Konoha in danger and that's why they're bringing him back quickly?"

"They don't send them after Naruto to bring him back. They're going to kill him." Sakura felt frozen.

"K-Kill? But-"

"Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, and Iruka-sensei were all against it. Three men cannot change the tide of all the Jonin of the village."

"But what has Naruto done? They should be sending the men after Kyuubi, not Naruto! Why are they using men to look for him, when they could be hunting down a killer like Kyuubi?"

"I- I'll let Naruto or Kakashi-sensei tell you that." He put one foot on the window ledge and prepared to jump out.

"Wait! Sasuke-ku-" She stopped. Sasuke was already gone.

How was it, minna-san? Remember, the more my muse is fed the quicker these turn up- and my muse feeds on reviews. 


	5. Chapter 5

Sasuke jumped from branch to branch, following the trail of blood and footprints that weren't quite hidden. Apparently, Kyuubi hadn't bothered with stealth.

'If I can follow him this easily, it won't take half this time for the ANBU or Jonin to find him.' Sasuke thought. He sped up.

'I wonder what caused Naruto to let Kyuubi loose, or if it took over. What happened Naruto?'

Sakura yawned and opened her eyes. The clock read 6:49 AM. She looked at it, prepared to fall back asleep.

She sat up, and almost screamed at the clock. She only had 11 minutes to get to the bridge! She scrambled out of bed and jumped into her clothes, only pausing to grab a bit of toast and her Konoha head protecter. She was out the door in six minutes, and it only took her four to reach the bridge. She paused, hands on her knees, and out of breath.

Two minutes later, Kakashi was there.

'He's here? On time?' She checked her watch. 'Well... only a minute late...'

"Where is Sasuke?" Kakashi asked her.

"Sensei! He told me to tell you that he was going after Naruto and was going to try to protect him from the Joning and ANBU by bringing him back or something. What's going on?" Kakashi's eye opened wide.

"He went after him?" Sakura nodded.

"I don't know what is going on! He said to ask you or Naruto why the Jonin and ANBU were going to kill Naruto."

"That's not my place to tell you. We're going now- we have to catch up. Go back to your house- pack food and water. I will contact more people." Kakashi disappeared. Sakura paused for a moment, but then ran back to her house.

'What is going on?'

Kakashi appeared in the middle of Iruka's classroom, during the middle of a speech.

"Kakashi? What-"

"Sasuke's gone after Naruto. Get someone to cover your class."

"But- but Hokage-sama said-" Iruka said, already putting down the book he was reading out loud to the class.

"I know what he said. We are not allowed to protect Naruto. Sasuke was not mentioned. We are going after Sasuke, not Naruto, and that is in our right to do so. If we protect Sasuke, and he protects Naruto, that is not our business." Iruka smiled.

'Clever. I doubt Hokage-sama would mind, either.'

"Class dismissed." Iruka said. The kids started cheering and left quickly, before Iruka could change his mind.

"Get Gai. Catch up to Sakura and I- we'll be on his trail." Iruka nodded. Both men disappeared.

Sakura was running out the door, and then ran right into someone. She fell back onto her butt.

"Ow..." she said, then looked at the person who had knocked her down. "Kakashi-sensei!"

"Time to go." he said, helping her up. Sakura nodded.

"I packed extra food, just in case we need it." she said. Kakashi nodded.

"Smart girl. Let's go." Sakura nodded, and both took off in the dirction that they had seen Kyuubi leap off in yesterday.

The ANBU and Jonin had left at 7, promptly. Hokage-sama had ordered them not to leave until seven, to make sure that all were there that were going. Everyone knew that they were leaving at seven, so everyone should be there.

Almost everyone was. Word had even spread to Chunins!

"We're ready to go." one told the ANBU captain that was to lead them.

"Then let's move out. Kyuubi isn't disguising his tracks- he won't be hard to find"  
The man nodded. He gave the signal for everyone to move out. They started running, eager to find the killer in the form of one small boy.

Naruto couldn't sleep. He was still awake- wide awake. He had bathed several more times, but now he felt like he couldn't move, even if he wanted to. He felt disgusting. You know when you have oil on your hands? Imagine that all over your body, and you need a special, rare kind of soap to get it off. You know that you won't get that soap.

That how it seemed to Naruto, anyway. He needed the love of the one he loved to be able to feel clean again, but he was pretty sure the one he loved didn't love him back, and he didn't want to sully Sasuke with his taint, anyway.

He heard the bushes move outside. He didn't really care- he just stayed where he was.  
He shivered. He was probably coming down with something- he'd been wet, cold, and naked for a few hours.

"Naruto!" he heard a voice call. Strange, he thought he recognized that voice...

"Naruto!" This time, the voice seemed a lot closer. In fact...

Naruto turned his head to look at the cave enterance. Surely enough, Sasuke stood there, looking at the few cuts and bruises that were still left on Naruto's skin.

'What could have caused him to let Kyuubi out?' Sasuke wondered, staring at Naruto. Obviously, it had something to do with the cuts and bruises on him, but... what? And why was he curling up in the fetal position inside of a cave? It couldn't be shame for Kyuubi killing people- could it?

'No. That makes no sense. It has to have something to do with what happened before Kyuubi.' Slowly, Sasuke knelt next to Naruto.

"Are you alright, dobe?" he asked, trying to instill coldness in his voice. Naruto looked away slightly. Sasuke caught the slight movement, a bit unnerved at how Naruto had looked away. Usually he would stare the person straight in the eye and say that the wound he was being asked about was nothing- he would be Hokage someday, little things like this couldn't hurt him. He was further unnerved when Naruto smiled widely- it didn't reach his eyes and seemed kind of hollow.

"I'm fine, Sasuke-teme!" His voice was hollow too, like someone had drained all the emotion from it and then left a bare husk out to be used.

"What the hell happened to you, dobe? Aren't you ever careful?" he asked, an annoyed look crossing his face. He still managed to keep his aloof air, somehow.

"Nothing happened! Leave me alone!" Naruto shot back, then rolled over, shivering. Sasuke was temporarily shocked into silence by the outburst- Naruto wouldn't have usually reacted like that. He wasn't that defensive or insecure.

"Then why did you let Kyuubi out?" Sasuke asked. Naruto froze, his back to Sasuke.

'Sasuke... knows? Damnit... he probably despises me now, too- for something that isn't even my fault!'

"So, who told you?" he asked tonelessly. Sasuke forcibly rolls Naruto back over, trying to look him in the eye. As soon as their eyes met, he spoke.

"No one did. I overheard. Jonin and ANBU have been sent after you- I came to get you out of here, dobe."

"Don't bother. You could get killed too- watching out for 'dead last'. Just go." Naruto kept the eye contact up, hoping Sasuke would see the truth in his words and leave.

A blast of cool air comes in from the cave enterence and Naruto shivers. Sasuke suddenly is made aware of how his teammate is clad- in nothing. He almost loses control and blushes, but he manages to keep himself under control. He turns around and removes his shirt, putting it behind him on top of Naruto.

"Put that on." he said. Hearing no movement, he peeks behind himself to see what Naruto was doing.

He was just laying there, staring at the shirt.

"Put it on, dobe!" Sasuke commanded.

"Why are you helping me? I killed people from Konoha- I could have killed YOU!" Sasuke wondered, again, what happened to his teammate. He used to be outgoing and fearless, now he was paranoid.

"Dobe," Sasuke said through gritted teeth. "You weren't the one that killed them. Kyuubi did." He turned around again, facing Naruto. Naruto gave him a puzzled look, but not for long. Sasuke propped the boy into a sitting position and pulled the shirt on over his head, yanking it down to give him some modesty. He carefully avoided looking at Naruto, deciding instead to gaze at the ground about a foot from the two of them.

'Good thing I buy large shrts- that should come down to almost his knees.' Sasuke thought.

The temporary peace was interrupted by the sound of the arrival of more people- the Jonin and ANBU had arrived.

GAHHHH! This was crap. Complete and total crap- this is my first time writing about a victim of rape and I just can't seem to get it right... grrr this is awful. Anyways, I'll try to have the next one out soon, in case anyone is actually reading this... 


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry that this is kinda late... But you don't want to hear about it, so... Onto the fanfic!

Kakashi, Sakura, Iruka, and Gai raced along in the trees, following the Jonin and ANBU at a safe distence. Suddenly, the ninjas ahead of them dropped to the forest floor.

"They've probably found Naruto and Sasuke!" Iruka said to his group, dropping quietly down to the floor. The rest followed suit.

They crept up on the ninjas, hearing the sounds indicating that words were being exchanged. Carefully, they made their way to the cave enterence, just in time to catch the last bit of conversation.

"Hand over the boy. His death sentence has been passed by the Hokage-sama himself. To protect him is to go against the entire Konoha Village." the ANBU captain was saying, obviously to Sasuke.

"I won't leave him here for you to kill him." Sasuke said. "If you want to kill him, you have to fight me first."

"We have no business with you."

"It's my business when you involve my teammate and friend"  
They heard a feeble muttering in the cave, but did not quite make out the words.

"He has more sense than you do. Kill him." the ANBU captain said.

Immediately, Sakura and the others heard weapons being drawn. They all stood up quickly and ran into the middle of the battle.

Sasuke knew that he was in deep trouble when the ANBU captain casually ordered his men to kill Naruto. He couldn't protect him from all the nins inside the cave- and there was no way he would outrun the, either.

'Damnit!' he thought. 'I can't hold them off forever!' He dodged a thrown kunai, making sure not to step in the way of another nins jutsu. He stayed as close to Naruto as he could, but he could only do so much. He saw one sneak behind him and turned around just to see the nin throw various weapons at Naruto.

"Naruto!" he yelled, trying to get over there, but the nins he was fighting held him back. Suddenly, the weapons heading towards Naruto were gone.

"What?" Sasuke asked himself, dodging as another nin threw shiriken at him and returning the attack with a jutsu, knocking his opponent out. He was grateful taht they weren't actually trying to kill him, but then he wondered why not all the the nins were attacking. There seemed to be fewer and fewer in the cave.

He saw a flash of pink, then recognized the hair.

'Sakura?' He glanced around for any of the other nins he knew. He saw Kakashi and Iruka fighting back to back, then there was Gai who was single handedly taking down a handful of ANBU. Sasuke saw no more nins, so he traveled back to Naruto.

"Dobe, are you awake?" Naruto gave the faintest nod. Behind him, a familiar Chakra drew near.

"He's just exhausted from everything that has happened. Bringing out Kyuubi and then healing must have taken it's toll." Kakashi said, so quietly only Sasuke and Naruto heard.

"The nins?" Sasuke asked.

"Taken care of. We should leave- there may be more nearby that broke off of the main group or they may have reinforcements." Iruka said, steeping up behind Kakashi. Sasuke nodded.

"I'll carry Naruto." Kakashi said. "Sasuke, you lead. Iruka, you're behind me. Gai and Sakura follow." The kast two came up behind Iruka as Kakashi finished outlining the plan.

"Naruto!" Sakura said, shoving past the men to get to him. "Are you okay?" Naruto just kinda nodded, not looking at her.

They heard a moan from one of the kncoked out nins. It seemed that they were waking up.

"Time to go." Iruka said. Kakashi scooped Naruto up in his arms to carry him. Naruto stiffened noticeably.

'What's wrong with him?' Kakashi wondered as they started off.

Sasuke opened the door to his house. It had been the closest safe place for Naruto.

"Lay him down on the couch- I'll get a blanket." Sasuke said. Naruto had shivered throughout the trip and probably had caught a cold. Kakashi did as asked and Sasuke was back soon with the blanket. Kakashi noticed that Naruto only relaxed when he had been lain down on the couch. Everyone was silent while Sasuke tucked the blanket in around Naruto. It was Iruka that started off the questioning when Naruto was settled.

"What happened, Naruto?" he asked, sitting down near the couch. Naruto looked away.

"Nothing. I'm fine." he said.

'Why did he avert his eyes?' Gai wondered.

"Tell the truth. It's okay." Gai said comfortingly.

"I'm okay!" Naruto said, looking back at them. Sakura almost took a step back at teh venom in his voice. Naruto wasn't acting like the Naruto she knew. As she listened to the rest of his words, she knew that this wasn't the Naruto she had come to like.

"I was just fine where I was! Why didn't you guys just leave me there? Anyone else would have-" Sakura stepped right up to the couch and slapped Naruto as hard as she dared. His head snapped to the side.

"How dare you speak like that! There are plenty of people in Konoha that would have tried to save you!" Naruto didn't even look at her.

"Name one that isn't here that you know for sure would have come." he said softly. Sakura kind of shrank into herself, searching her mind for anyone she knew would have come. Her raised hand lowered.

"Well... I'm sure that Ino would have come. Shikamaru too! And Neji and Hinata... um..."

"Can you say for sure?" Sakura closed her mouth.

"What really happened, Naruto? We can't help if we don't know." Kakashi said reasonably. Naruto shook his head.

"I told you, nothing happened." he said. He hadn't moved his head since Sakura slapped him, so he was still facing away from the group. His eyes became soft and sad.

'What would they think if I told them? They'd probably think I'm weaker than they thought. That I can't be a good ninja. They'll feel sorry for me- I don't want their pity. Especially not Sasuke's...'

"Why were all the Jonin and ANBU after Naruto? what's going on with the Nine-Tails too? Why weren't the Jonin and ANBU after Kyuubi?" Sakura asked. Naruto froze. Sasuke already knew. Would Sakura hate him for it? Why did she have to know NOW, of all times?

"That's Naruto's question to answer." Kakashi said. "What he tells you cannot be told to anyone else." Sakura nodded.

"I don't want to answer. Iruka-sensei can answer it." Naruto said.

"I will tell the backstory, but you must tell her the rest, Naruto. She won't hate you." Sakura looked at the rest of the nins there. Why on earth would she hate Naruto? What secret could be so terrible? Iruka-sensei took a deep breath and began the tale.

Thankx to everyone! Hope you guys like it- if you have any suggestions, then please tell me! It's probably not the best... but if any of you have time, then could you visit 'Sorrow'? It's another Naruto fanfic that I've done- it's complete and seems to be one of my more popular ones... SasuNaru, very sad, but fluffy end! Okay, enough promotion of it.  
I'll have the next one up next week. 


	7. Chapter 7

A little SasuNaru fluff ahead... Please read the final Author's Note in the chapter!

"A little over a decade ago, a demon named Kyuubi attacked Konoha. He killed many and almost drove our people away from here. He was only stopped by the brave efforts of the 4th Hokage and many shinobi. I am sure that you are familiar with the story."

Sakura nodded.

"But... what does this have to do with-?"

"The Kyuubi wasn't killed. He was sealed inside the body of a small baby- just born that day. He became the sacrifice for the villages safety, though the citizens of Konoha never appreciated him." Sakura felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. 'Don't tell me... Naruto?' she thought, inwardly gasping.

"I was that little baby. The demon fox was sealed inside my body." Slowly, Naruto pulled the shirt up, the blanket covering from his waist down. There- right around his belly button- was the seal. "I accidently let Kyuubi out yesterday. It's my fault." Sakura gasped.

'He blames himself?' Without thinking, she knelt down beside the couch and enveloped Naruto in a hug.

"It's not your fault. Naruto..." she said, two tears trickling down her face. She didn't even notice that Naruto had frozen when she had hugged him. She was so sorry for her friend- the one that had had to endure Kyuubi all by himself. Only today- even though she had known him for years- was she realizing how alone Naruto was.

Unseen by the three Genin, the three older males in teh room glanced at one another, uneasy. Kyuubi's seal looked lighter than it should be. It had faded to a sort of deep brown- it was no longer black.

'Is the seal... weakening?' Kakashi thought. It was possible, after all. The seal had been cast over a decade ago, and the caster was dead. Kyuubi had also broken free once, so the seal could have weakened when it had had to rely on excess power to reseal.

"We should go and ask the Hokage to repeal the order for Naruto's death. Sasuke, you stay here and keep an eye on him." Gai said. Everyone but Naruto nodded. Sakura stood up and wiped her eyes. The four of them disappeared, leaving Naruto and Sasuke alone.

"Thanks for the couch." Naruto said to break the silence. Sasuke just nodded.

"Sleep." he commanded, leaving the room.

At the Hokage's office, a few Genin and one Chunnin were speaking to the Hokage.

"What did Naruto ever do to you?" Ino was asking. "So he went missing for a little bit. That doesn't make him a missing-nin! He shouldn't just die!"

"How bothersome..." Shikamaru muttered. "I wouldn't even be here if Naruto wasn't my friend. All we want is for you to repeal the order."

A loud knock at the door could be heard.

"Come in." the Hokage said. The ANBU captain came in. All was silent as the cloaked figure came to a stop in front of the Hokage and bowed.

"Mission report. Status: incomplete. Awaiting further orders and report treason."

"Treason?" the Hokage asked. The ANBU nodded.

"Kakashi, Iruka, Gai, Sakura, and Sasuke were sighted at the mission sight, protecting Naruto. The punishment for treason is death."

Just then, the doors opened again. In came Sakura, Iruka, Kakashi, and Gai. They all bowed, showing the proper respect. Before they could say anything, the Hokage spoke.

"A charge of treason has been brought up against you. What do you say in your defense?" Kakashi's eyes opened wide, but then it crinkled to indicate that he was smiling.

"Treason, you say? But Hokage-sama, we did nothing against Konoha."

"You were protecting that Naruto brat." the ANBU captain growled. Kakashi casually looked over at him.

"Naruto? You must be mistaken. We protected Sasuke. If he protected Naruto, how is that our business?" Kakashi smiled at the Hokage. "My lord, isn't there a law that protects Genins from being put to death unless they become missing-nins or the majority of the Jonin and ANBU call for his death?" The Hokage nodded, smiling.

"I see. Therefore, the charge of treason is not valid." The Hokage smiled again. "In that case, state your business.

"We've come to ask for the death order on Naruto's head to be repealed." Sakura said quickly. The Hokage took on a sober look.

"You know the laws. One- at least- from every rank must speak for him and then there must be a trial among all of Konoha to repeal a decision. Nothing has ever been repealed." Iruka nodded.

"I speak as a Chunnin for the life of Uzumaki Naruto."

"I also speak, as a Jonin." Gai said.

"We all speak as Genin." Ino said, indicating the whole group- Neji, herself, Shino, Shikamaru, and Sakura, and others.

"I can reactivate my staus as ANBU captain to speak for him." Kakashi said, looking down. He did not want to be an ANBU again, but he would to save the life of his student.

"No need, Kakashi. You can stay retired. In the place of an ANBU, I speak for Naruto." the Hokage said. "The trial will be in three days. I suggest telling the young ones who they will be defending." The Genins- besides Sakura- looked confused, but Kakashi just sighed. Naruto and Kyuubi weren't much of a secret now, huh?

"Hai." he said, bowing out. Everyone left, except for the Hokage and the ANBU captain.

"What do I tell my men, Hokage-sama?" the captain asked.

"Tell them to stop searching." Hokage-sama said with a smile.

Sasuke watched the blond boy sleep. He had to be exhausted. Kakashi said that he had used up a lot of chakra over the past day.

'You wouldn't know it just by looking at him. He looks so peaceful...' Sasuke thought as Naruto lay there quietly.

Suddenly, Naruto started to toos and turn, screaming in what had to have been pain and telling someone to get off of him. That would have caused mild worry for Sasuke, but

Naruto was crying.

He had never seen Naruto cry.

"Naruto?" he said. "Naruto!" He stood and walked up to the couch. Placing his hands on the other boys shoulders, he shook him quickly, hoping to wake Naruto up from the nightmare.

"Naruto, wake up! Wake up!"

Naruto began to thrash even harder and scream louder.

"Get off! Get off of me! Please..." Naruto voice had sunk into a whimper and he stopped thrashing, curling in on himself. Sasuke sighed, standing up.

'What was he dreaming about?' Sasuke wondered. Naruto was still curled up and whimpering. He turned towards the kitchen, intending to get himself a nice cup of tea.

A bloodcurdling scream interrupted that. Sasuke dropped the tea bag he had just gotten out and ran back to Naruto's room.

"Naruto!" he yelled, drawing a kunai in case someone had attacked the blonde while he slept.

No one was there.

'Nightmare again... That's it, I'm waking him up.' Sasuke thought. He sat on teh couch next to Naruto and started doing anything he could think of to wake him up. He tried shaking him again, slapping him, getting some water and splashing him. It didn't help. In desperation, he decided to try one thing that he had always wanted to, but would never dare when the blonde was awake or when anyone was around.

Sasuke blushed a bit. It might work- it had worked in that one fairy tale, hadn't it?

'Except I'm no prince, and he isn't Sleeping Beauty.' Sasuke thought, getting up and kneeling next to the still screaming form of Naruto. He grabbed Naruto's head as gentley as he could and quickly pressed his lips to the other boys. He drew back almost as quickly,  
but not quick enough.

Naruto hadn't stopped thrashing when his head had been stopped. His hand struck out and slapped Sasuke across the face as the Uchiha drew back. Sasuke gave a small grunt of pain as his head whipped back, but then quickly got to his feet.

'That was stupid.' he thought to himself, at turns embarrassed and furious with himself. He walked to his bedroom, stopping and glancing over his shoulder at the door. 'At least he stopped screaming.'

"Goodnight, Naruto." he whispered, closing the door behind him.

Sorry for the long wait! I've been busy with school- finals week!  
I hope everyone liked the SasuNaru fluff bit there was in there... couldn't resist. It may be a bit fast, but at least it wasn't a 'oh-Naruto-is-awake-because-of-my-kiss-so-we-can-  
now-admit-we-will-love-each-other-until-we-die-a-thousand-deaths-and-have-wild-sex-on-the-  
couch' type of thing. That's just not ever going to happen. (Just look at what I made Sasuke go through for a kiss... a big slap)  
Thank you, everyone, for reading! 


	8. Chapter 8

Demon eyes opened. The creature stood in its cage, stretching its back and its nine-tails. It had had a nice nap, but now it was back to business.

Kyuubi walked towards the bars of the cage. It glanced at the seal. The piece of paper that had appeared on his bars- the seal- and been so formidable now looked a great deal weaker. Experimentally, Kyuubi pushed some of his chakra out to 'feel' the seal. The barrier protecting the seal was very weak- it seemed like most of the strength the seal had was going to keeping Kyuubi in his cage.

'It will last for a while yet.' Kyuubi thought, hackles rising at the prospect. The boy he was sealed in would not likely let Kyuubi take control again, and the fox knew he was not so fortunate that his host would get raped or recieve mental wounds like that again. He would have to rely on his own strength to remove the seal.

Kyuubi studied the seal again. It had once looked unmoveable, and his chakra used to be unable to touch it. Now... he let his chakra flare, burning a small bit of the seal. Kyuubi let out a smaller amount, but concentrated it into a small ball. He nearly cursed when it didn't go through.

'The barrier around that damn piece of paper lets nothing but the widest spread of chakra go through.' he thought. It would take a great deal of chakra to break it. Kyuubi laid down and began his daunting task.

Naruto sat up. He had just woke up, and you could easily tell because his eyelids were still half closed. He yawned, stretching his arms up in the air. He still felt tired, but content at the same time. Maybe it had to do with his dreams...

Naruto suddenly stopped stretching, remembering what most of his dreams had been about. He suddenly felt violated all over again. He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them close. He let his neck relax until his forhead touched his knees. Most of his dreams had been about those men... and what they had done to him. Others had been about what his friends would say, how they would react... he shuddered again when he remembered the one about Sasuke's reaction. Sasuke had looked at him as though he were the lowest form of life on the planet and then smirked coldly.

'What else can you expect from a dobe? He was too weak to protect himself from weaklings like that. Assign to someone else's team- I can't babysit when we go on missions.' Sasuke's voice reverberated in his mind. He knew it was just a dream, but it had hurt. Another dream he had had was one where Sasuke had pitied him- Naruto couldn't stand that. He couldn't accept pity from anyone, especially not Sasuke.

"Are you awake, dobe?" a voice asked from the other side of the room. Naruto looked up, putting his legs down quickly. He glared at the speaker, who was now smirking. Sasuke was leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen, looking cool as ice except for a large bruise marring his cheek.

"I'm obviously awake!" he said. Sasuke took on a serious expression and straightened up.

"I'm not here to tease you. Your trial is today." Naruto blinked.

"Trial? They're not going to..." Naruto hesitated to say the word 'kill', but Sasuke got his meaning.

"No, you no longer have to worry about being killed. Your sentence is on hold until we see if we can get the order overturned." Naruto blinked stupidly again. Overturned? Was that even possible?

Sasuke caught his dumbfounded look and sighed.

"Have you never heard of the process of overturning an order?" Naruto shook his head. Sasuke explained it to him, somehow making it seem so obvious that it was practically a crime that Naruto didn't remember the process. It had the added bonus of making Naruto feel like a complete idiot. Naruto brightened when he heard about it.

"So I probably won't be killed?" he asked. Sasuke nodded, then raised an eyeborw.

"You do realize that you'll have to tell the other genins about..." he nodded at Naruto. Well, at Naruto's stomach, where the seal was.

Naruto glanced down, almost staring at where the seal was. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words died on his tongue. What was there to say?

A loud knock on the door interrupted Naruto's train of thought. Sasuke left to answer it, returning a moment later with Iruka and Sakura.

"Naruto!" Iruka said, running over to the boy. "How are you feeling?" he asked. Naruto quickly smiled, though his smile had lost a lot of its usual joy.

"I'm fine Iruka-sensei!" Iruka felt like sighing in disappointment. Naruto apparently stil kept quiet about what had happened to him- how could he help Naruto if Naruto wouldn't talk about it?

"Hi Naruto." Sakura said, smiling at him. He grinned back.

"Hi Sakura-chan! What do you have behind your back?" he asked, apparently curious. Sakura slung the backpack off of her shoulders and began digging through it. Various makeup products and brushes came out before Sakura finally found what she was looking for- a few pack sof instant Ramen and Naruto's forhead protecter.

'My forhead protector!' Naruto thought, a small touch of gladness lighting his eyes up. He took it from her outstretched hand and looked at it, smiling.

"Thank you, Sakura-chan." A loud bang and a puff of smoke announced the arrival of a silver-haired jonin.

"Yo, Naruto." Kakashi said in greeting. "Your trail is in about an hour. Get dressed." He tossed something at Naruto, who caught it on reflex.

It was an orange jumpsuit like he usually wore- but it was new. Naruto was touched.

"Thanks guys..." he said. Sasuke sighed with impatience, but -truth be told- he was happy that Naruto was acting more like himself.

"Get dressed already, dobe. It'll be more work for us if you arrive late." Naruto nodded and went to the nearby bathroom to quickly change.

Naruto stared at himself in the mirror. He had gotten dressed in his new clothes, but he hadn't put his head protector on yet. He smiled at himself in the mirror, practicing.

'As long as I act the same as I always do, no one will know the difference!' he assured himself, trying out his grin. It looked the same as always. 'No one has to know.' He finished practicing and stared at his Leaf forehead protector. He picked it gentley up and fastened it when it belonged. He gave himself one last look in the mirror before going out to join his friends so they could walk to the stadium where all of Konoha's most important meetings were held.

Ino paced back and forth, not content to simply sit and think. She had been waiting for a half hour in the room that she and her fellow nins were now in, and was bored beyond belief.

"Ino, just sit down." Shikamaru said, laying on the carpeted floor and staring at the ceiling. "Your pacing is-"

"Is WHAT?" she demanded. He sighed and shut up. It would be too bothersome, getting into a verbal fight with Ino.

"Nothing." he said. She resumed her pacing, not knowing that he was watching her. He sighed again, with longing.

"I'm going to pick up more snacks. Anyone want any?" Choji asked, having run out of potato chips and various other junk food a moment ago. The genin replied with various negative answers.

"When are we going to learn this sercret?" Kiba asked, petting Akamaru. "What's the big deal?"

"It may help up in Naruto-kun's trial." Hinata said softly.

"Doesn't mean I'm not bored." Kiba said. Suddenly, the door opened. In walked Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Iruka, Kakashi, and- most surprising- the Hokage. The nins in the room knew instantly that this was a big secret they were about to get told- why else would the Hokage be there?

"Sakura-chan!" Lee said, grinning hugely at her. He waved enthusiastically until she waved weakly back, a bit embarrassed by Lee's attention. The Hokage cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention back to him. He regarded them with tired eyes.

"It's good to see all of you here, ready to defend your teammate. The trial is in a few minutes, and we have something to tell you before it starts. If you don't want to defend Naruto after this, then you may go."

"What is this 'secret' Hokage-sama?" Neji asked respectfully. By the way the other's were assembled around Naruto, it had to be something horrible. Naruto was staring at the ground, with his sensei's flanking him and Sakura and Sasuke standing nearby with the Hokage. Sakura kept stealing glances at Naruto, not hiding it that well. Sasuke glanced at him less, and those glances were much better hidden.

"Just so you know, this does not leave this room." Kakashi told them. "This is important- give your word as shinobi that you will not speak to anyone about this." The surprised nins all nodded.

"It starts years ago, back when the Fourth was alive." the Hokage said. He took in a deep breath and was about to continue when Naruto interrupted.

"I'll tell them."

Thanks, thankees!  
K- next chap. should be out next week. Rundown of things to come in next chap-  
Naruto tells the other genins about Kyuubi, the trial starts, and .  
Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it? You'll find out soon enough. 


	9. Chapter 9

I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Naruto's words were met with silence.

"You sure, dobe?" Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded.

"Gambate ('Good luck') Naruto." Sakura said.

"Just spit it out already!" Kiba said. Naruto looked up.

"Okay then. Anyways, once upon a time there was this big mean fox." Shikamaru rolled his eyes- Naruto was obviously trying to make this 'secret' of his into a small, insignifigant little story.

Ino hit him over the head.

"Seriously now." she growled. Naruto gulped and then took on a serious look. It wasn't one they were used to seeing from Naruto, so all were properly shocked.

"Kyuubi attacked the village a little over a decade ago. The Fourth gave his life to defeat him, but he couldn't quite kill him. Kyuubi is still kinda alive, but kinda not."

"What is it that you are not telling us?" Shino asked. Naruto sucked in a deep breath, then let it all out before saying the next part rather quickly.

"Kyuubi wasn't killed, he was sealed inside the body of a newborn baby- the baby had just been born a few hours earlier." Naruto looked down, looking at the seal on his stomach. "Not many in the village know that Kyuubi is still alive inside that baby boy- many assume that the Fourth killed Kyuubi." He heard sharp intakes of breath- the quicker genins and Shikamaru had picked up on what he wasn't saying. Ino's face- though he couldn't see it- had gone completely white, and Hinata was- if this was possible- was looking paler than usual.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata stammered.

"Don't tell me..." Ino said, backing away a step or two from Naruto in shock and fear. Naruto looked up, a guarded look in his usually carefree eyes.

"Yes. I was that baby. The Kyuubi lives on inside of me." Ino laughed shakily.

"Yeah, very funny Naruto. what's the real secret?" she asked.

"It's true." Kakashi said. He surveyed the room. "Any who don't wish to defend Naruto because of this information may leave now." No one moved. Naruto glanced around at all the determined faces of his friends.

"We will defend Naruto-kun to the end!" Lee said, giving Naruto the thumbs-up sign. "He is our friend!" The genins and Shikamaru nodded, though Shikamaru mumbled something that sounded like "How bothersome..." before yawning.

"Thanks guys..." Naruto said.

The noise in the open-air stadium was loud. That was the only way to describe it. Loud. It seemed to have a presence of its own- and it was all adults making that much noise. No one unaware of Naruto's secret was allowed to attend, and the rest were taken on drills outside of the village to ensure that no one would eavesdrop. Naruto caught some of the words spoken as he and his defense team walked into the stadium. First came the Hokage, then Naruto as the accused, then the jonin, the chuunin, and the genin.

"There's that kid-"

"Kyuubi's vessal? Why bother with the trial?"

"That murderer-"

"-planning on repealing his sentence?"

"They should have killed it right off-"

"I heard he killed eleven people-"

"Really? Dumb brat couldn't stop him, eh?"

"Probably let it out-"

The Hokage cleared his throat loudly, stopping. Naruto almost bumped into him, but stopped himself. The crowd quieted down, but you could see hateful glares shot at Naruto.

"As you know, we are here to see if the death sentence on Uzumaki Naruto's head should be repealed. First we shall hear the crimes he is accused of, then we shall hear his friends and finally himself speak in his favor. Is this acceptable?" A few nodded their heads, and many shouted back with an affirmative answer.

"Good. Uzumaki Naruto went missing for a few hours after Kyuubi attacked Konoha. As we all know, Kyuubi was sealed inside of Naruto when he was just born. Kyuubi killed eleven people and wounded thirteen before fleeing Konoha, for reasons unknown. Also unclear is the reason why Kyuubi broke free in the first place. We are here to see if this boy truly does deserve the death sentence." The Hokage took a deep breath before continuing. It was dead silent in the stadium- even birds were afraid to chirp.

"Ordinarily, an ANBU member would speak first. I will be speaking instead for Naruto." Gasps of shock could be heard around the stadium as people looked at those seated next to them, confused. A dull murmur ran through the crowd until the Hokage held his hands up. The crowd quieted.

"Hatake Kakashi offered to be an ANBU captain again, but I refused saying that I would do it myself. Uzumaki Naruto is a good boy, despite housing Kyuubi. The worst he has done is play pranks on people. He has never failed any of his missions, and is a strong ninja. He will be of great use to Konoha when he is older." The Hokage nodded his head at Kakashi, the next speaker.

"Hatake Kakashi will take over." Kakashi came up.

"Naruto is a good student. He tries hard. He, along with Sasuke and Sakura- are the first genins I allowed to take the chunnin exam, which they did not pass only because it was cancelled. I'll vouch for his character." He glanced at Gai, motioning for him to come up. Gai did, then spoke for Naruto. One by one, Iruka, Shikamaru, Ino, Neji, Hinata, Kiba, Choji, Lee, TenTen, Shino, Sakura, and Sasuke came to defend Naruto, No matter what anyone said, the looks on the faces of the crowd didn't change. As far as they were concerned, Naruto was a demon and should have been killed off a long time ago. It didn't help when both Ino and Sakura started yelling at the crowd for thinking that way.

Unbeknownst to them, members of the Leaf weren't the only ones witnessing the trial.

The Sound ANBU captain motioned for his team to follow him, making sure to mask his chakra. He and his team were right outside the gates of Konoha.

"Remember to leave the Uchiha kid alive- master Orochimaru needs a new body." he said quietly. His team nodded.

"Let's go." he said, sensing that the other ANBU captains had started forward, as well as their teams of jonin and even a few chuunin.

They snuck up to the gate, quickly scaling up to the watchtower. The two chuunin watching the front were quickly overpowered- neither had time to scream. From behind his mask, the ANBU captain watched as the other watchtowers were taken care of in a similar manner.

"Phase One: Entry. Status: Success." he whispered, continuing on. His team followed.

The small group cautiously dropped down to the streets of Konoha. No one was there- not even civilians.

'Did they find out about the attack ahead of time?' the captain thought. He glanced around. 'No. If they had, we would have been greeted by their elite ninja. So where...?'

"ANBU-sama." a Sound scout said, approaching him quickly. "We have seen no resident of Konoha in the city, but there seems to be a large crowd over in the stadium. We believe that all the residents of the city are there."

"Good work." the captain said, nodding. The scout disappeared. The captain nodded at his team and they sprang forward, heading for the stadium. The ANBU noticed that all the Sound nins were heading in the same direction.

'Good- we can all attack together.'

Naruto uneasily shifted as he sat on the stage. Something big was coming. Naruto could even sense Kyuubi pacing in his cage.

"Hold still, dobe." Sasuke whispered to him. Naruto stilled, though the uneasy feeling remained.

'What is going on?' Naruto thought. 'Why do I think something's going to happen?'

'Unfamiliar nins.' something hissed in his ear. It sounded almost like... well, Kyuubi.  
But that was impossible- Kyuubi couldn't talk to him unless Naruto was inside his own mind or in seriously deep trouble.

'Yes, it's me you stupid boy.' Kyuubi said, growling at Naruto stupidity.

'How?' Naruto asked, still a bit bewildered. 'You shouldn't be able to-'

'I do as I please. Let me out of this damn cage- there are unfamiliar nin'  
Kyuubi never got to finish. The Hokage had stopped speaking and a few members of the crowd were looking up at the top of the stadium.

Ninja from the Sound were clearly visible as they moved over the top of the stadium and then fell into the crowd, some drawing shuriken and kunai and some making seals for jutsus.

Naruto watched in fascinated horror as a few civilians fell- bleeding but not yet dead- beneath kunai and shuriken and as other were caught in the crossfire between the Sound nins and the Leaf nins. Most were caught by surprise, but they tried to fight back and it was clear that the Leaf was losing.

Naruto saw Kakashi take a shuriken in the chest- close to his heart. He went down as a few other shuriken and kunai peppered him. Gai held out, blood dripping from cuts he recieved as he cut his way through the battlefield.

Shikamaru and his fellows genins tried out a few jutsus, but they were no match for the ANBU and jonin of Sound. A few used the podium and their chairs to blocks, but those couldn't last forever. Shikamaru eventually resorted to just blocking Ino with his body as Lee sprang to protect Sakura.

'Let me out!' Kyuubi growled at him. So caught up in listening to what Kyuubi was saying and the screams of the people around him, he didn't notice the flying weapons headed straight for him. He turned slowly, seeing them pointing straight at his face. he tried to duck, but he knew a few would hit anyway.

He shut his eyes tight as a shadow fell over him and the shuriken and kunai embedded themselves in flesh and blood leaked from the cuts.

Sorry for taking so long! I honestly didn't mean to, but I had to get my lazy behind motivated again.  
Thanks for all the lovely reviews! I'll try to be on time next week... sorry! 


	10. Chapter 10

Sasuke had been right next to Naruto when the nins had attacked. He had been drawn farther away from Naruto as the battle progressed, until he was actually in the crowd, by all the civilians and protecting them from the attacks. He had been succeeding as well as he could, under the cirumstances.

He snuck a glance at Naruto. The blond looked like he was spacing out, listening to something only he could hear.

He obviously didn't see the kunai and shurikien headed for him.

Before Sasuke was consciously aware of it, he felt his body move. Like a missle, he headed straight for Naruto, putting himself between Naruto and danger.

He gasped as he felt the first kunai hit the small of his back. Another went into his arm. A few missed, but the last few needles went straight through him, puncturing his lung. Blood instantly started to fill the organ as Sasuke crumpled before Naruto.

The last thing he saw was Naruto's shocked face before he blacked out, wounds still gushing crimson liquid.

Naruto watched with wide, frightened eyes as Sasuke fell, blood flying behind him from where he was hit.

"Sasuke?" he asked. The dark-haired boy didn't move. Naruto called his name again, frantically.

"Sasuke!" The Uchiha coughed, blood flying from his lungs. Naruto went pale as he realized how shallow his friends breathing was. He saw the group of needles embedded deep in Sasuke's body. They must have punctured the lung.

'Even Haku didn't do this much damage...' Naruto realized.

Sasuke was dying.

'And it's your fault, brat. If you had been paying attention, he wouldn't have leapt in to save you. He wouldn't have died.' Kyuubi reminded him, a note of gleeful spite in the fox's voice.

Naruto felt tears rolling down his cheeks. Sasuke was dying and it was all his fault.

Suddenly, a booted foot appeared on top of Sasuke's lifeless body.

"Are you the fox-child?" a gruff voice asked.

"Get your foot off of him." Naruto growled, his tears drying as he burned with anger.

"Are you the brat or not?" the man asked, drawing a kunai and holding it up to Naruto's throat.

'I could get promoted for this- killing him will get me somewhere, at least.' the man thought, grinning.

"I said, get your foot off of him." Naruto said, not looking at the man's face.

"Are you the damn fox-brat or not!" the man demanded, shoving the kunai a little ways into Naruto's throat. Blood trickled from the wound.

"Your foot. Off." Naruto said thickly. The man sighed, exasperated, and then kicked Sasuke's body. The dying boy gasped in pain, then hissed as that burned his lungs.

"Happy?" the man didn't notice that Naruto had frozen in shock, and then had started shaking with barely repressed rage.

"You're dead." Naruto hissed, glaring up at the man that had decided to kick Sasuke out of the way. Not thinking about the consequences, he let Kyuubi take over as he lunged at the man.

The last thing the Sound nin ever saw was blood-red eyes and fangs before his throat was torn out.

Sakura hid behind Lee as he bloocked the weapons aimed for her.

"Sakura-chan, please get behind something solid." Lee said, wincing and biting his lip as he spoke. He hissed as a kunai lodged itself firmly in his kidney.

"Lee-san?" Sakura asked, shocked. "What about you? Why are you protecting me?"

"Please, Sakura-chan! Get somewhere safe." Lee pleaded with her.

"You too then. The Sound nins are way too dangerous- we can't take them on now." Lee hissed again as a senbon needle grazed his neck. Before Sakura could react, he scooped her up in his arms and leapt to a safe place behind a stone statue. He sey her down, bleeding from a few wounds that had closed just a minute or two ago that he had foolishly reopened.

"Stay here, Sakura-chan." Lee said, smiling at her. Quickly- as though afraid she'd hit him- he bent forward and pressed their lips together. Sakura was shocked, but it was gone as quickly as it came.

"Gomen ni, Sakura-chan. I was too forward, but I didn't want to die without having kissed you." With that said, he got into his 'nice guy' pose, one thumb up. "I'll protect you." He turned and ran back into the fray, carefully making sure that nothing would hurt Sakura.

Sakura put one hand to her lips, sliding down to her knees.

'Lee-san... kissed me...' she thought, shocked. She felt numb, not even hearing the sounds of battle near her come to a sudden hush, as the nine-tailed fox joined the battle.

Naruto knew exactly what he was doing. He tore out the throat of the man that had been so callous as to kick the dying body of Sasuke. He spat the slightly bitter-tasting flesh of the poor Sound nin. Blood dripped from his chin to soak his shirt.

He growled as he turned, leaning back onto his legs and springing forward- over the heads of the combatants- to kill as many Sound ninja as he could before dying.

Kakashi swore in his mind. They were losing, and badly. He had taken out twenty-four of their number, but there seemed to be two for every one he killed.

He had his back to the wall now, making sure none could sneak up on him. He quickly performed seals for a fire-jutsu, using more of his quickly dissipating chakra to fry several nin close to him. A few got away with only slight burns, and Kakashi was nearly helpless to defend himself as half a dozen projectiles flew towards him. He tried to grab for one of his own kunai, but he had no more. Suddenly, an orange blur shot in front of him, taking a few blades in his body and slapping the rest down with the palm of his hand.

"Naruto!" Kakashi said, astonished. His eyes grew wide with realization of who this actually was when he saw the orange figure easily and mercilessly behead two of the opponents, cut another in half, and crack a few skulls.

"Kyuubi..." Kakashi breathed, watching all his foes that he had struggled so hard with fall dead before this deadly creature.

Kyuubi spared him a single glance before darting off, apparently deciding not to kill him.

Kakashi breathed an inaudible sigh of relief.

Naruto felt a burning sensation build up in his body. It felt like his flesh was melting and morphing.

'Kyuubi, what's going on?' he asked the fox in his mind.

'I don't know. Why do you have control of this body? I should be controlling it!' Kyuubi thought, agitated.

'Sucks to be you, then.' Naruto thought. 'Why does my skin feel like it's melting? What did you do!'

'...Melting?' Kyuubi thought. Naruto could hear the shock and...was that fear? Why would Kyuubi be afraid? 'Damnit!'

'What is going on!' Naruto demanded, stopping for a moment.

'Foolish boy! Keep moving, brat!' Kyuubi said, as a few senbon went through Naruto's arm. Naruto hissed, then turned to his attacker. The man looked startled at his appearence, but Naruto just growled before ripping him apart, getting more blood on his orange clothes.

'You tell me what the hell is going on when this is over, got it?' Naruto thought before leaping to a few more Sound nin. He grabbed two by the necks and slammed their heads together with such force their necks broke and their skulls cracked. He quickly sliced another in half before they had time to react, but the next three were ready for him. He was sliced across his cheek, adding another stripe, before he managed to behead the offender. He quickly cut the legs out from under his opponent, and then he sliced one of teh arms off for good measure. He nearly got burned from a fire jutsu the last one aimed at him, but the only thing that got hit was his shirt. He quickly rolled, putting the fire out before leaping like a wild animal and cutting his final opponent into three pieces.

"Bastards." Naruto muttered, wiping his cheek clean of sweat and the bit of blood that had somehow managed to land up that high. He glanced around, and narrowed his eyes.

Rock Lee was fighting all by himself in a sea of enemies. He was slowing, and Naruto could see cuts appearing all over his body. His jumpsuit was just strips of cloth from the amount of shallow cuts he was recieving, and his right arm was obviously broken. He favored his whole right side, come to think. Broken ribs.

'They're bleeding him to death. They won't let him die in battle, like a proper warrior, and instead make sure he dies of blood loss. No honor.' Kyuubi thought.

'That's my friend they're doing that to.' Naruto thought, leaping to Rock Lee's side.

"Lee!" he called out. Lee quickly glanced up to see who had called his name, but that one second distraction was all that was needed. He was sent flying into a brick wall. He gasped, then fell, hitting the ground with a boneless thump.

From far away, Naruto heard a girl shriek Lee's name. A small aprt of his mind recognized Sakura's voice. Naruto ran to Lee, checking his vitals to make sure he wasn't dead.

Sakura suddenly appeared beside him, tears in her eyes as she looked at Lee.

"He'll be okay- he's not dead." Naruto said softly. Sakura looked at him, eyes wide.

"Naruto?" she asked in a small voice, as if not sure who it was. Naruto nodded.

"Yes, Sakura. It's me."

AN: Gasp! How does she react? What's going on!  
...Well, I'm sure we'd all like to know- find me again next week, yo! (Realizes she's been watching too much Advent Children and laughs weakly) 


	11. Chapter 11

Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. She had never seen Naruto like this. He was.  
Well, he was scaring her. His eyes were as red as blood with slits for pupils, and his previously orange jacket was almost unrecognizable, stained the same red color of his eyes. The stripes on his cheeks were exaggerated and looked infinately more feral. He had actual fangs and claws, not nails, and those claws and fangs were crimson from the blood he had spilled.

"He's still alive. He'll be okay." Naruto was saying. Sakura just nodded. "Take care of him. I'll work on the rest-" Naruto's voice suddenly stopped. A great pain and slowness was spreading throughout his body.

'What the-'

'Damnit.' Kyuubi swore. 'It's already happening.'

'What is?'

'Do you think that demons have unlimited energy? No, we don't. We fight and kill, then when we run out we're immobilized until we gain enough strength. You've used up too much of our chakra, brat!'

''Our' chakra?' Naruto asked incredulously.

'That 'melting' sensation yout told me about is not unlike what happens when a stronger demon merges with a smaller, weaker one. We are about to become one being, and the stronger one gets possession of this body.'

Naruto attempted to process this information, but he couldn't. He and Kyuubi as one being? That was impossible, wasn't it? He didn't listen to the rest of Kyuubi's speech.

A sharp whistle in the air caught his attention. He looked up and just barely dodged a kunai headed for his ribs. He growled as a water jutsu nailed him full-on on his ribs- they had predicted how he would dodge. He hissed as he felt part of his body freeze due to the odd paralysis Kyuubi had told him about.

The enemy took advantage of his momentary lapse and one drove a kunai deep into his stomach. Naruto gasped, the blood spilling from the wound to soak what little orange there was left on his jumpsiut. He felt the kunai twist at the exact moment another rush of pain hit him from the merging. The pain burst white-hot, and Kyuubi burst from the seal, teh seal disintigrating into so much dust. Naruto's consciousness dropped out of supremacy, and as he was so focused on the pain still wracking his body, he didn't notice that it was now Kyuubi that had control, and it wasn't until he blacked out he realized what had happened.

Kyuubi smirked as he felt the limbs of Naruto's body respond to his thoughts- he was in total control now.

"Bastards." Kyuubi said calmly, pulling the kunai out and licking a bit of the blood off of it. "I'll pay you back double for that." He leapt, using the kunai previously stuck in his stomach to behead several people, to cut a few more in half, and he just removed a few limbs on some of them. He was ruthless, running from one group of nins to the next. He was laughing out loud the whole time he did so, laughing hysterically in joy.

Inexplicably, however, he went out of his way to save townspeople, not kill them. He had gotten hit several times as he blocked shots meant for the townspeople, and his limbs were still freezing up slowly. Still, he was ecstatic. He was free to murder as many as he wanted!  
He had killed three more Sound nins by the time his right arm was completely useless. A few Sound nins had run when they saw him, and he had seen quite a few escape over the walls. The handful left now would hardly be a match for the Konoha nins if the Konoha nins were prepared and had more chakra, but as it was now all the nins could do was throw kunai that they picked up from the dead, and most nins had stopped fighting, deciding instead to help the wounded.  
Kyuubi glanced around. Ten Sound ANBU were still alive, all in a circle with their backs towards the center. A few nins were still fighting them. Kyuubi eagerly jumped in, not feeling the eyes on his back.

A senbon needle hit his back, near his heart. He hissed and fell into the middle of the Sound nins, landing strangely on his leg with a snapping sound. Something was broken.

Instantly, five of the ANBU turned towards him. One blew a breath of fire at him (which he quickly dodged, but as one leg was broken, part of him burned because he couldn't move as quickly as he needed to) while another quickly did teh hand seals for a jutsu Kyuubi did not recognize. As the nin finished, a loud ringing filled Kyuubi's ears, like a very high-frequency whistle. Kyuubi howled as the sound penetrated deep into his mind. He began mindlessly clawing at his ears, trying to make the sound stop. He wasn't even aware that he had fallen to his knees, his broken leg twisting painfully under him. He didn't notice that his right arm wasn't moving. He collapsed, the sound still ringing.

"We finally got the little shit." An ANBU growled. The ANBU stepped forward. "I say we kill him now."

"No. That would be too quick." another said. "Slowly"  
Kyuubi felt the ground he was on vibrate slightly. Someone was stepping closer to him, and he lay almost helpless. He growled and struggled to his knees, unable to move much more. His vision was hazy- perhaps a side effect of the sound that was still ringing in his ears, but it was getting softer and softer. It didn't claim all of his attention now.

He felt the vibrations stop. He couldn't see where they were.

'Shimatta.' he thought. He glanced around, when suddenly something hard hit his back- right on top of the senbon needle. Kyuubi gasped, and pain wracked his body again as more of it was claimed by the strange paralysis that always took over his body after overextending himself.  
Kyuubi writhed in pain as someone stomped on his back. It came again, and then again. Kyuubi didn't know that he was now the only person against ten ANBU- one had been taken out of the battle about the same time his attacker hurt him. The majority of nins had just realized that he was the one using Naruto's body, and they didn't want to get caught in between him and his opponents. The townspeople were running, and a few nins were as well.

"Kyuubi is such a weakling. Is this what all the Leafs were afrid of? A weakling like this?" a Sound ANBU asked quietly. He kicked Kyuubi's ribs, cracking a few. Kyuubi howled again.

"How the beaten dog howls..." the ANBU said again. Kyuubi glared death at the man stomping on him.

"Pathetic." The man spat on him, then kicked him so hard Kyuubi flew into the nearest wall, then landed on something soft.

Kyuubi opened his eyes- he hadn't even realized he had closed them, he realized worriedly- to see what he had landed on. What he saw stopped him cold.

The dark-haired boy his host was so enamored with- Uchiha Sasuke- was lying beneath him. The boy was breathing still, but his face was whiter than chalk and it was clear that he was just seconds away from dying.

Surprisingly, the boy opened his eyes.

"Naruto?" he asked, his brain obviously shutting down already.

"...Yes." Kyuubi said. An odd part of him wanted to comfort Sasuke in his final moments. He attributed that to Naruto, as it was only the brat who was drawn to Sasuke. Of course it was. Kyuubi couldn't be drawn to some human boy.

"Baka... why do I keep..." Sasuke suddenly coughed, and Kyuubi realized that he was still sitting on the dying boy. He got up, ignoring the ANBU that were drawing closer, taking their time.

"..Why do I keep... leaping in to protect...?" Sasuke coughed up more blood. "Do you..."

"I know." Kyuubi said, even though he did not. His words seemed to ease Sasuke's discomfort.

"Good... baka, never... nearly get yoruself... kil-" Sasuke was cut off as another round of coughs racked his body. On the last cough, his body stilled and his eyes went dull.

Sasuke was dead.

A/N:dodges angry reviewers: okay okay okay! Sorry for killing him off, but HE'LL BE BACK! Give me a few chapters, and our Sasuke will be alive and kicking again- promise! (Like I could ever really let him die...) 


	12. Chapter 12

Kyuubi felt a hollowness in his chest as Sasuke died. He felt both separate and a part of the feeling.

'The brat loved this boy. His feelings just spilled over into mine.' Kyuubi thought. Nevertheless, he let out a mourning howl. It started as a soft, keening howl, then escalated into a howl filled with so much pain that it nearly broke the hearts of everyone who heard it. The townspeople and the few nins that had run stopped in their tracks, turning back to see what appeared to be a little boy soaked in blood, howling over a dead body. They might have run in disgust- a few townspeople threw up when they saw that much blood- but they were rooted to the spot, powerless to do anything but watch as Sound ANBU closed in on Kyuubi.

Kyuubi was brought back to himself when one of the approaching ANBU accidently kicked a small stone. It would not be enough to alert anyone with hearing less acute than Kyuubi's but it was more than enough for Kyuubi. He jerked his head towrds the sound, abruptly cutting off his howl, just in time to see an ANBU lunging at him. Kyuubi tried to spring off his hands, but he realized too late that his arms no longer worked- stiff with paralysis, both of them. It also didn't help that another wave of dizzying pain hit as he was trying to leap, making him close his eyes in pain.

The ANBU's fist caught him square in the jaw, throwing him back over Sasuke's body. He grunted as he hit the dead boy, his face landing almost exactly over Sasuke's.

"Weak. All of Konoha is weak, to be defeated by only this creature!" He spat at Kyuubi, but it missed by a mere milimeter, hitting Sasuke's cheek instead.

A larger rage than anything Kyuubi had ever felt before rise up in him. It was twice what Kyuubi had ever felt, or ever could feel.

'The brat feels anger as well.' Kyuubi noted. 'The merging is happening too fast- this isn't normal. I have the use of only my left leg- how in the seven hells am I supposed to kill them?' Kyuubi glanced at Sasuke's face again, the saliva slowly rolling down Sasuke's cheek.

"You are one very dead man." Kyuubi growled, somehow managing to stand on his left leg while his right leg and arms hung useless. Kyuubi coiled close to the ground, using only his left leg as support and balance, and sprung at the man, teeth finding the ANBU's throat. Whipping his head from side to side, Kyuubi managed to decapitate the man.

Two of the ANBU's men converged on Kyuubi, but Kyuubi was still boiling from the anger at seeing Sasuke treated so calously. He quickly kicked the man's stomach, his foot coming out the other side. He fell, his only means of balance stuck in his now dead opponent's gut. The other that had come at him picked a kunai up out of a nearby dead body and quickly brought it down to Kyuubi's neck. It pricked his skin before Kyuubi managed to move his leg enough so that he could knee his opponent in the groin. The man dropped the throwing knife and gasped, dropping to his knees- close enough for Kyuubi to kick off the man's head.

Kyuubi kicked viciously and the man's head popped off, almost like the head of a flower. The body fell, blood splashing and temporarily covering Kyuubi's eyes. Kyuubi cursed andmoved his neck so he could wipe off the blood. It worked, and he could see again in a moment, but by then it was too late.

There were seven ANBU left, and all seven held a kunai at his neck, temple, or heart. He would be dead before he could dream of moving.

"Gotcha." an ANBU growled. "Now you pay for all the annoyance you've caused Orochimaru-sama!"

"Bastard." Kyuubi growled, though no one was quite sure if he was talking about Orochimaru or the nin.

"Once you're dead, Orochimaru-sama will have no worries about taking over Konoha. It willbe ours, and he will be able to put his face up on the Hokage Monument, where it belongs! He will have a better body, his homeland restored, and we shall be his right-hand men!" Now that Kyuubi was in their power, they seemed to think that they could boast.

"You mean Uchiha will be your masters new body?" Kyuubi asked. "You just killed him. He's dead. Your master will soon follow him, because of what that snake-bastard did to him!" Kyuubi wasn't sure why he was speaking so much- he usually spoke very little.

'It must be this damn merger.' Kyuubi thought. He turned his thoughts back to the nin currently intent on killing him.

"The Uchiha is... dead?" The ANBU seemed shocked, but then grinned. "Then you shall be his next vessal! A body better than that of Uchiha Sasuke, a body worthy of our master!" Kyuubi cursed as the ANBU started aiming for his temples with his fist- a hit there would knock Kyuubi out.

Sakura watched the battle that Naruto- no, Kyuubi, Kyuubi was using the body- was fighting. He seemed unable or unwilling to move more than his left leg and neck.

A low moan sounded beside her. She turned to Lee.

Lee opened his eyes to see Sakura's face above his. He tried to sit up, but Sakura put a gentle hand on his left shoulder and held him down.

"Don't move. Your right arm is broken and you have broken ribs on both sides, not to mention that your left wrist popped out and the internal bleeding. You could get hurt worse if you try to move. I could only put temporary splints and bandages on the wounds. I couldn't do anything about the popped wrist or the internal bleeding, and I haven't seen a medic close." Sakura said softly.

"But... what about the Sound ANBU? Are you hurt?" Lee asked, eyes shining in concern for Sakura. She felt tears come to her eyes. Here Lee was, badly hurt because she couldn't protect herself, and he was worried about her.

"I'm fine. Naruto's fighting the ANBU-"

"By himself!" Lee asked, shocked. He renewed his struggles to get up, but Sakura held him down.

"Stay there. Naruto will be fine- well, because it's not really Naruto who's fighting..." Sakura said, biting her lip and hoping Lee got it.

He did.

His eyes widened with realization.

"Ky- Kyuubi? Kyuubi is fighting?" Lee said. Sakura nodded.

"I don't know what's going to happen. When I saw him a bit after you were knocked out, he seemed like himself, but he changed a little bit after that. He was laughing as he killed the Sound ninja. I think it was then that Kyuubi took over."

"Will Naruto be able to take back his body?" Lee asked.

"I don't know."

Kyuubi dodged as much as he could, but he could feel his neck and leg stiffening at an alarming rate.

'Damnit.' he thought, biting his lip as the newest wave of pain almost made him black out. He quickly dodged the hands of his opponent, only to run into another nin. His opponent's friends had caught on, and were now doing all they could to bring Kyuubi down in one piece.

Kyuubi cursed again and ducked, but then his stiff right leg caught on something- a pebble perhaps- and he fell. He hit the ground hard, gasping as the wind was knocked out of him.

The Sound ANBU gathered around him, but not too close. As one or two of their number had seen, he was still deadly with only his leg being able to move.

Of the original group that attacked, only the five facing him were left, not including the ones that had run.

"This is the end." one ANBU said. "You will come with us now. Stand up." Kyuubi growled, trying to look menacing from his prone position on the ground. It didn't work, but he couldn't stand either, so he settled for the ineffective glare.

The ANBU kicked his ribs. Kyuubi was pretty sure he heard something crack.

"Stand, now." Kyuubi growled again. An ANBU behind him kicked his kidneys. Kyuubi gasped, but he could not move to save his life. The ANBU each took turns kicking him, each more brutal than the last. Kyuubi was sure that half his ribcage was broken, as well as his nose and jaw. His leg bones were bruised, possibly fractured.

"Get up, or we will kill you. We can offer Orochimaru-sama our bodies in return, but we will not kill you quickly. Stand, you pathetic creature!" Kyuubi winced as another punishing blow was delivered to his solar plexus.

'I will not die like this!' Kyuubi thought, trying to get his limbs to obey him. They wouldn't move, but he felt the pain of each and every blow.

Sakura's eyes widened when she saw the ANBU beating up Kyuubi.

'What's wrong with Nine-Tails? Why is he letting them do that?' Sakura wondered, watching with horror as Kyuubi was hurt over and over again. Even though she knew who was using the body at the moment, it still looked like Naruto- her friend.

She couldn't let this happen.

Sakura stood, letting Lee's shoulder's go. If he wanted to stand or sit up, so be it.

A/N: Sorry- probably glaring plotholes, but it's still okay, right?  
See you next week! 


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: I felt like updating today... and so I did. Enjoy people!

"Lee, I'm going to help Naruto, okay?" Sakura said quietly. Lee looked worried, but he slowly nodded.

"Be careful, okay Sakura-san?" Sakura nodded, then darted off. Lee watched her go.

'Be careful.' he thought, wishing that he was able to help her, but he couldn't.

Scene Change!

Kakashi studied the scene before him. Kyuubi was getting badly beaten up by some Sound ANBU that had not left. Kakashi squinted, as if he thought his eyes were decieving him.

'Why is Kyuubi not moving to defend himself?' A rustle next to him in the bush diverted his attention away from the fight for a moment.

Next to him lay Iruka, unconscious after trying to fight one of the ANBU by himself.

"Where am I?" Iruka asked, stirring a bit.

"In a bush, now be quiet." Kakashi said, turning back to the fight. Iruka's eyes flew open and he tried to sit up, but was stopped when Kakashi put a hand on his chest and held him down.

"Don't move." Kakashi warned.

"Is Naruto okay? What happened?" Iruka demanded.

"Kyuubi took over and is now getting beaten by the Sound ANBU. It looks like he can't move." Kakashi saw- out of the corner of his eye- the blood drain from Iruka's face.

"Will he be okay? Can we still win?" Iruka asked.

"I was going to join the fight, but I was too busy guarding you to make sure someone didn't take the opportunity to kill you." He turned to face Iruka. "There are more wounded nins in nearby bushes, but I couldn't hide everyone. Just guard them and stay here." Iruka nodded, and Kakashi took the opportunity to leap out of the bushes into the fray.

Scene Change!

Shikamaru and Ino lay behind a stone pillar that had been knocked on it's side. Ino was barely wounded, just a few scraps and cuts, maybe a bruise or two. Shikamaru was much worse off. He had been guarding the stone pillar and had before guarded Ino with his body, so he was covered in cuts. Some were deep and would require stitches, but he didn't need immediate attention.

"Shikamaru, are you okay?" Ino asked, obviously concerned and scared. 'Why did Shikamaru go to such lengths to protect me? Usually, he'd just let me fend for myself while complaining that this was bothersome...'

"Don't worry about it, Ino. This is what I get for getting involved in something bothersome..." Ino glared at him and wacked him upside the head.

"Ouch!" he hissed, rubbing his head.

"So, protecting me is bothersome? Sorry to annoy you, Shikamaru." Ino said. Shikamaru sighed.

"That wasn't what I meant. I shouldn't have gotten involved in battle at all. I could've dropped you off somewhere safer and not had to fight at all." Ino's face softened as she saw Shikamaru's numerous wounds.

"I'll be fine, Ino." Shikamaru said, noticing where her gaze had landed. "The battle seems to have stopped, so I just have to find a medic nin..." He added something that sounded like "So bothersome... has to be done." under his breath, but Ino ignored it.

"Then we should get moving!" Ino said, standing up. She watched as Shikamaru got shakily to his feet.

"Fine." Shikamaru said, looking exhausted with his hands on his bent knees. He glanced over the battlefield, and then straightened up, eyes wide.

"What-" Ino said, following his gaze. She gasped.

All of the citizens of Konoha seemed to be gathered around on place, and she could just barely see what they were watching.

It seemed that they were watching Naruto as he was getting beaten by Sound ANBU, but something seemed a bit off about Naruto. He didn't seem like his usual self...

As some of the shouts of the Sound ANBU drifted to her on the wind, she realized why.

"You shall be master Orochimaru's new body-"

"Konoha will be doubly afraid of master Orochimaru now-"

"Dumb fox-brat- did you think you could take us on?"

"Kyuubi will be ours-"

"Kyuubi... Kyuubi is fighting?" Ino said. Shikamnaru nodded, shocked.

"And he seems to be losing." Shikamaru said. Without another word, he turned and began to walk towards the battle.

"Shikamaru, where are you going!" Ino demanded, walking towards him. Shikamaru didn't pause for a moment.

"To help my friend who has always helped me."

Scene Change!

Iruka carefully crawled in the bushes, checking to see who was in the bushes that he was guarding.

'I'm lucky that these are just outside the door.' Iruka thought. The bush he had been in was closest to the door and you were able to see into the stadium from there, but the rest of the bushes were spread across the outside of the wall.

So far, he had come across many shinobi- some of which he did not know, but most he did. The Hyuugas had been badly wounded, having fought together against ANBU and they were overpowered. Hinata had a bad slash across her chest and had passed out from blood loss before she had been bandaged temporarily. Neji had multiple bruises on his skull- possible concussion- internal bleeding from being hit hard in the kidneys, as well as a broken leg and multiple burns and cuts.

Kiba had been next to Hinata in the next bush over. He had cracked ribs and was obviously unconscious. No major damage.

Shino was next, and he was dripping in sweat. He seemed to have inhaled some sort of poison, and it was taking its toll. He was breathing heavy and had a fever, but as Iruka knew nothing about poisons, he couldn't help.

Gai was obviously injured- a large sword must had sliced clean through his jonin vest to slice a cut two inches deep and starting at his shoulder to end at his other hip. Nothing vital had been damaged, but Gai was extremely pale from blood loss, and his hair was matted with blood, making Iruka suspect he had been thrown into a wall head-first. There were multiple burns on his arms and legs- mostly first degree, but there were a few second-degree burns, making the skin pop up and blister.

Choji seemed to have passed out from lack of chakura. He, too, was covered in multiple cuts, but it was nothing a medic should be worried about.

Iruka hadn't seen Sasuke, Ino, Shikamaru, Sakura, or Lee, so he assumed that they were all right, not wanting to think the alternative.

Scene Change!

Kyuubi gritted his teeth as he felt each blow hit. His leg was all but impossible to move now, and he could barely move his neck to see what was happening.

'I can't die like this!' he thought desperately. He struggled to move, but he coudln't.

"Master Orochimaru will have to be satisfied with another body. I'm taking way too much pleasure in killing you. We can always get that other demon- the one from Sand- to be Master Orochimaru's new body." The ANBU drew his katana, the one strapped to his back. "Goodbye, Kyuubi." he said spitefully, the brought the blade screaming down, aimed for Kyuubi's neck.  
Kyuubi closed his eyes, not wanting to see the death that was surely upon him...

A/N: I know- great, another cliffie!

Bad news folks- I'll be busy this entire weekend and all of next and may not get much of a chance to write for a while. I have the next chapter already written, so expect that next Saturday (not in two days, in nine), but maybe not another one for maybe a week or two after that, depending on my motivation to get it written. 


End file.
